New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller
New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/democracy-for-dummies/
Democracy For Dummies
I know him. When he was a teenager, I crawled around in his head as his English Teacher. Sadly, months ago, his wife of many years died unexpectedly. A man in his 70s, he fell into a well of grief so deep he considered joining her. I held my breath as he struggled to find his balance. Recovery came by inches, but it came. Eventually, I could stop worrying. Still, reading his comments on social media, I wondered if the residue of his grief had turned to hate. He’s not a bad man nor a foolish one, but he seemed to need a reservoir of anger to contain his misery. Like our 45th President, Donald Trump, he focused on immigrants. They were criminals and rapists, he said, echoing the words of the former president. I told him my mother was an immigrant. But he refused to connect the dots between his trust in me and my Costa Rican parent. She takes no offense. She’s dead. I could tell him that as the child of an immigrant, his prejudice offends me. But that’s not true, exactly. I’m not diminished by his bias. Instead, I feel pity for him, aware that his hatred burns inside him like hot tar and that he’s injuring himself more than those he wishes to harm. Self-torment is a condition common among most haters. Over time, their fury drives out other emotions. Compassion lost, they cling to their malice like voyagers tossed overboard at sea. Hatred becomes their ballast and their North Star. It distracts them from their disappointments. It explains why fame and fortune have eluded them. When they hear the word welfare, they are quick to retort, “Nobody ever gave me a handout.” The statement is false, of course. These malcontents received a free education. Their water is drinkable, and their roads and bridges are maintained. True, these benefits come from public taxes. But federal money isn’t shared equally. Some parts of the country receive a larger handout than others. Conservative states tend to be low-income states, and they pay less in federal income taxes, while people who live in those states are more likely to benefit from government support programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or SNAP, a nutrition assistance program. My former student who is white and others of his ilk enjoy additional benefits as well. They can sit at a lunch counter or use a public bathroom without fear of attack. The employment they seek comes with the promise of advancement, while Immigrants take jobs so poorly paid, they must work more than one to put beans on the table. The source of white contempt isn’t the absence of privilege. It’s fear. Forced to live cheek-by-jowl with foreigners, working-class white Americans …are more worried that they or their families will become victims of violent crime…they are more likely to live in neighborhoods with higher levels of social disorder… are also much more likely to believe that their families will fall victim to terrorism. What’s lost to their understanding is that immigrants share these fears. Yet rather than join hands for the betterment of all, those who are native-born chose to pledge their allegiance to the superrich. Donald Trump never knew a door that wasn’t open to him, unlike them. Yet somehow, he’s convinced these followers that he feels their pain and that he stands as a bulwark against systems that oppress them both. One of his supporters recently smiled into a television camera to say he’d take Trump’s autocracy over the ballot box any day. “Sometimes people need to be spanked,” he avowed. Spankings aren’t meant for people who think like him, of course. They’re meant for people who believe in equality, diversity, and inclusion. He can’t envision a time when he might need a system of laws to protect him. His ignorance makes democracy fragile and joined with the ignorance of others, he encourages enough civil unrest to invite tyranny. In this world, democracy has few friends, already. Even Nature abhors it. With few exceptions, democracy scarcely exists in the wild. Even so, my eighty-seven years on the planet have convinced me that though imperfect, democracy is the best way to protect the individual from the tyranny of the powerful. E. Jean Carroll and her suit against billionaire Donald Trump is an example. Who doubts that absolute power corrupts absolutely? Those who seek it are the least to be trusted. As individuals, we accept the yoke of government as part of a social contract, relinquishing some rights in exchange for greater collective benefits. To this end, democracy best suits the individual’s purpose. Founded on the notion of equality, it entitles everyone to keep an eye on everyone else.
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Ellie isn't allowed to travel alone Anymore
So! Ellie was raised in a Lab by a Genuine Bonefied Supervillain. She was raised to be a Villain as well, so her Moral Conpass is a little skewed.
Sure she *mostly* knows what is right and wrong from Danny's quick lesson before her Adventure around the Country, but she still has trouble separating what is moral and what is not from time to time.
So it's really no surprise that the moment she left Amity Park she somehow ended up being branded a Villain.
Look, it's not her fault she didn't know not to attack the flying guy in Blue Spandex when he approached her! One of Danny's biggest warnings shen she left had been Stranger Danger! She did what any 12 year old girl would have done when approached by a strange Older Man!
Its also not her fault that her powers (being Magic based), managed to affect him! She didn't even use her full power! (She maybe should have kicked him in a different place tho...she hopes he wasn't planning on having kids...)
So she did what her instincts told her to do. She took any money he had on him and ran the hell away!
It wasn't until she was 2 cities over when she saw a newspaper titled, "Little Villain Girl Mugs Superman in Broad Daylight!", that she realized she may have screwed up...
After that, she really had no excuse.
She knew that she probably shouldn't have kept Mugging the Heroes who approached her, but she wasn't a Fenton for nothing! Her Family Motto had always been "Commit to the Bit", and she was gonna stick to it!
So when the Fast Red Guy tried to tie her up, she phased off all his clothes and took off with his money (not the mask, she knew enough not to take that off)
And when the Grumpy Bat Guy tried to corner her with some weird papers he pulled out of his Belt, she just distracted him while her clone picked his pockets and made off with the wheels of his Car. That one made her a pretty penny!
The flying Green Guy was fun, his attacks were just throwing Ghost Candy (pure willpower) at her. He did stop doing do after she nicked his fancy talking Ring however, but it was fun while it lasted
Then she came across a Orange Fish Guy, and he actually seemed nice enough. But she was committing to the Bit, so she took the fancy Trident he had and sold it at a nearby Pawn Shop for some extra cash. He would probably be able to find it, that's why she chose a nearby location.
All in All, her Adventure had been really fun! So she decided to visit Amity Park again to tell Danny all about it!
...
Aquaman walked into the meeting room of the Watchtower, a very frustrated look in his eye.
Barry spoke up first, "Oh! I know that look in your eye! She got to you too didn't she!"
Arthur just glared at Barry for a second before walking over to his Chair, sitting down with a thump. "She is certainly a tricky child."
"What did she take this time?" Clark asked.
"..mttrident..." Arthur grumbled out quickly.
"What was that?" Asked Barry with a twinkle in his eye. He heard it, but he wanted everybody else to know.
"She took my trident, Okay!" Arthur shouted out.
"I feel ya man." Responded Hal, "At least with me she threw it back at me when she realized it wasn't making 'candy' anymore. What did she do with yours?"
"She sold it at a Pawn Shop!" Arthus yelled in frustration, "She managed to steal one of the most Powerful Magical Weapons in the world, the Symbol of the entire Atalantean Royal Bloodline, and she sold it and a Pawn Shop!"
"...how much did she get for it?" Asked Hal.
At this, Aquaman just collapsed to the table and groaned.
...
Alternatively she could have just kept all those things, and gradually built up a collection of all the JLA's most treasured possessions.
She has Supermans Wallet, not very important to him but it was her first mugging
She has Batmans Utility Belt (trackers removed) along with his Tires
She took Flashes Costume Ring (his civilian clothes still stuck inside)
She took Green Lanterns ring as well, but unfortunately it managed to escape after a few days. It was feisty.
And her crowning Jewel is the Trident she took from Aquaman.
(She avoided WW, cause she likes her too much to steal anything from her)
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i keep seeing rhetoric among usamericans like 'we have enough problems here, i'm staying out of this' regarding the genocide in palestine — but there is no staying out of this. you cannot stay out of this. you are already involved. even were it not just a social obligation as a person who lives in this world, it is largely our usamerican tax dollars, our military aid, & our weapons that is making this ongoing genocide against palestinians a reality. and so we are complicit and have been complicit in the forced expulsion & ethnic cleansing of the palestinian people. we are already involved. & we must dissent. we have a responsibility to educate ourselves, to write and call our representatives, to demand a ceasefire, to march when possible in solidarity, to amplify palestinian voices, to support bds in its boycotts, to call for sanctions against the apartheid state of israel, & to do everything in our power to stand up with palestinians
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When you’re looking for furniture/decor on Facebook Marketplace (or where ever) are there any specific keywords you search? Or do you just slog through all the posts of boring things until you find something cool?
Generally no, I don't use specific terms. I actually usually go as broad in terminology as possible, and trawl through.
The goal for me is to find a cool thing that someone either doesn't know enough about to know how valuable or rare it is, or someone who wants it gone more than they want to make money on it. For either of those sellers, specific terminology is not something they're likely to use. The one-photo no-description $40 add is the target and has won me some really cool stuff.
I do make a point to open and browse ads for stuff I think is cool that I know I won't buy, just because I know the Facebook datatracking is relentless, and I might as well use it to my advantage.
If you've got budget to burn then yeah, go for the technical terminology for stuff. I just find that usually gets me experienced antiquers who know what they have. And that is, fellow shoppers, the enemy.
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